


a little light in the darkness

by sunshineforthesoul



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, One Shot, snowed in at a 24 hour diner au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26181334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineforthesoul/pseuds/sunshineforthesoul
Summary: “Looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a little while, huh?” he says, his wide grin relaxing into a smirk as he stirs cream and sugar into his coffee. “I’m Derek.”
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 32
Kudos: 160





	a little light in the darkness

**Author's Note:**

> i’m very tired right now so if there are any mistakes, i will fix them later :)
> 
> check, please! and its characters belong to ngozi

The sound of the bus driver’s voice startles Will awake. 

“Due to the extreme weather, we have to pull over and take shelter until it clears up enough to continue driving safely.” His voice is scratchy over the intercom. “I apologize for the delay.”

Will blinks and cranes his neck to stare out the window. 

All he can see is the whirlwind of snow, and through it, tiny glimpses of the pitch black night sky. Silence hangs in the air, with only the rumble of the bus chugging along and the rush of the wind to fill it. 

It sucks that he won’t get home until much later than he’d planned, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. The fact that there are barely any other vehicles out on the freeway is enough of a sign that they shouldn’t be on the road either.

The bus exits and turns into the parking lot of a 24-hour diner, as the neon sign says. There are some other cars in the lot, most likely other refugees from the winter blizzard and the limited staff that now has to take in a busload of tired people. 

They slow to a stop and the driver announces that he will lock the bus after they get off so they don’t have to take all of their belongings in with them. 

Will has the important things he needs — phone, charger, wallet, etc. — in his backpack, which is lightweight enough for him to bring without taking up too much space. He shuffles in line with the other passengers and they file off the bus.

Immediately the cold bites at Will’s exposed skin. Even the covered parts of him aren’t safe — his fingers itch in his gloves and he pulls his hat down further. 

A sigh of relief goes out amongst the passengers at the warmth inside the diner as they file in. 

Will slides into a small booth by himself and takes a second to situate himself. 

The lone waitress wanders over with a coffee pot. “Would you like coffee?” she asks, sounding just about as exhausted as Will feels. 

“Yes please.” 

She pours it a little haphazardly, drops of coffee splashing out onto the table, before asking if he’d like a minute to look at the menu.

“That’d be great, thank you,” Will says.

From where he’s sitting, he can see the TV mounted over the counter, and directly across from it, the front doors. 

The door swings open and a man hurries in, hugging a worn leather satchel to his chest. He scans the diner, before spotting the only empty seat across from Will. 

He weaves in and out of the bodies packed together and without saying a word, slides into the booth. 

Will watches him unwrap his green scarf and peel off his wet coat, setting them down on the seat next to his satchel. The man pushes the sleeves of his matching green sweater up. It’s layered over a white dress shirt, the collar smooth and crisply pressed. 

“Coffee?” the waitress asks, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. 

“Uh, that’d be lovely,” the man answers, flashing the waitress a grin. 

She fills his mug as haphazardly as she did Will’s. “Can I get you anything else?”

“Mmm, not at the moment. Thank you.”

She turns on her heel and leaves to attend to another customer. The man glances at Will then looks over his shoulder, following Will’s line of sight to the TV, where the weather forecast for the foreseeable future is bleak. 

He turns back to Will. “Looks like we’re gonna be stuck here for a little while, huh?” he says, his wide grin relaxing into a smirk as he stirs cream and sugar into his coffee. “I’m Derek.”

“Will.” 

Even that single syllable sticks to his tongue. He tries not to stare as Derek flips open the menu and goes straight to the “Waffles and Pancakes” section. 

Derek’s mouth curves up softly as he reads down the column of dishes, like there’s something amusing written in the menu that only he can see. The warm overhead lights reflect in his clear green eyes, and his eyelashes are full and dark, seemingly brushing across the tips of his cheekbones when he blinks. 

Will’s drowsy — both from being on a bus for hours and the lateness of the hour — and a part of his brain is simply past impulse control. “Your eyes are pretty,” he blurts out, surprising himself.

Derek lifts his head, blinking curiously at Will. 

Will smooths over the corner of his napkin. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Derek says, eyes brightening. “Are you a fan of sweets?” 

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“No reason.” He returns his attention to the menu, but Will catches the way his mouth twists to suppress his smile. 

Under the table, Will feels Derek’s shoes press against his. He doesn’t fight it when Derek tangles their legs together slightly. 

When the waitress comes back, Derek orders chocolate chip waffles with whipped cream. Once she’s gone again, he reaches over to his satchel and fishes out a small notebook and a pen. 

Will pulls out his phone and scrolls idly through it while Derek writes, and he wonders what Derek’s thinking. He wonders what else is in Derek’s bag and where he’s headed and feels weirdly crestfallen about how there’s a good chance he’ll never see Derek again. 

“What brings you here at this hour?” Derek asks out of nowhere, his tone teasing. 

“Huh?” 

Derek glances up. “Where are you headed?” 

“Oh, I’m going home to Maine for the holidays.” Will resists the urge to squirm under Derek’s soft, yet intense gaze. “What about you?” 

“My buddy Chris just got married, so I’m passing through on my way back to New York City.” Derek taps his pen against the page. “You should visit sometime, if you’ve never been.” 

There’s an edge to his voice that Will is trying really hard not to read too much into. He nods because he has nothing to say, and Derek returns to writing. The lull in the conversation feels natural, only broken up by the waitress delivering Derek’s waffles. 

Derek pushes the plate into the middle of the table and unfolds his napkin to get his silverware. 

Will’s brow furrows. “What…?”

“You said you liked sweets, didn’t you?”

The implication of the statement hits Will full force. “Oh no,” he says, laughing nervously. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because… it’s your food…?” Will trails off. The expression on Derek’s face is so inquisitive that for a second, Will wonders if he’s somehow going against a social norm. 

“I ordered it for both of us.” Derek cuts a piece off of the corner of one of the waffles and stabs it with his fork. “It’s chill.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” 

Will picks up his fork hesitantly, expecting Derek to, at the last second, reveal that this was a test that he’s about to fail. Derek sips his coffee, and nothing about the relaxed slump of his shoulders or his leg bouncing under the table gives off the impression that he’s said anything he didn’t mean. 

They fall back into the comfortable lull as they eat, and Will pretends his face doesn’t heat up when Derek’s legs tangle more into his. He tries to recall when the last time he ate a meal with someone else was. It’s been a while.

“Thank you,” he says, when there’s nothing but traces of melted chocolate and whipped cream left on the plate. “Is there any way I can repay you?”

“Did you enjoy it?” Derek asks. Will nods. “Then that’s good enough for me.”

Will, in his current sleepy state, feels the sudden desire to cry. He drops his gaze to Derek’s notebook before he actually succeeds in doing so. “Do you mind if I ask you about what you’re writing?” 

“Not at all.” Derek sits a little straighter. “I work as an editor for a publishing company in New York City, but I love writing down ideas in my spare time. Sometimes I like to do little drawings of things that inspire me.” 

He flips open to the middle of the notebook and holds it up so Will can see. In the middle of the page there’s a messy sketch of the diner with the big neon sign and snow coming down all around it. On paper it looks deceptively peaceful, like the snow is gently floating down from the clouds. 

“What do you think?” Derek asks, breaking Will out of his own head. 

Will clears his throat. “It’s really cool.” 

He can’t believe he’s being so awkward, but his worn out brain can only handle so much. Luckily, Derek appears to be charmed, rather than put off by it. 

“This whole situation, even though it’s sucky, has given me inspiration for a short story,” Derek says, a sly smile creeping across his face. “It’s about a traveler who gets lost and finds himself stranded in an unfamiliar place.”

Will can tell Derek is a storyteller by the hush in his voice that incites interest and mystery. Derek leans forward slightly, like he’s about to let Will in on a secret. Will is mesmerized by him. 

“He meets this guy who’s really cute and blushy and reluctant to share waffles with him…”

“Hey!” 

Derek laughs and the room becomes warmer. “And somehow — I haven’t figured out these details yet — although weird circumstances bring them together—”

He’s cut off by a surge in the noise level, chairs scraping against tile, the clink of silverware being set on plates. Will peeks over Derek’s shoulder to see the bus driver and the passengers beginning to leave.

“Bus is leaving, folks!” the driver announces. 

“Uh, I-I’m so sorry. I have to go,” Will says, pulling on his coat and rising. 

“Wait.” Derek reaches out and grabs a hold of Will’s wrist. He picks up his pen and starts scribbling something onto the back of his hand. “In case you ever find yourself in New York City.”

The pen tickles as it traces over his skin. Will swallows down a laugh. 

Derek releases his grip, the corner of his mouth curved upwards once again. “Have a safe trip.” 

Will puts on his gloves. “You too.” 

Although the blizzard has calmed down, the cold is just as bitter as before. Will quickly climbs aboard the bus and settles back into his seat. He performs a perfunctory check to make sure he has all of his belongings and pulls off his gloves.

A phone number is printed on his hand. 

He brushes his fingers over it, lightly so as not to smudge the dark blue ink. 

Before the driver turns off the lights, Will copies the number into his phone. The bus rolls out of the parking lot and heads back onto the freeway. 

Will spends way longer than he should staring at the blinking cursor and trying to figure out what to say to Derek. In the end, he goes with something simple and straightforward. 

**Will:** Hi. This is Will :] 

He leans his head back against the window, which surprisingly isn’t rattling hard enough to blend his brain into a smoothie. After a minute, his phone buzzes twice in a row. 

**Derek:** spoiler alert:

 **Derek:** they fall in love ;)

**Author's Note:**

> hey this is pretty much the only thing i’ve been able to write/finish since the end of june. i spent a lot of time doing nothing during quarantine and now that i’m out of my house and back at school, i think maybe i’ll start generating ideas and stuff again (hopefully).
> 
> also weird trivia fact: i think this is the first and only thing i’ve written that doesn’t have italics in it 
> 
> also! if you don’t have a tumblr/aren’t following me and you were subscribed to the ghost au, please read [this](https://omgdexnursey.tumblr.com/post/627660751387164672/important-note) post
> 
> comments/kudos/bookmarks are always appreciated! :)
> 
> come say hi to me on tumblr! [@omgdexnursey](https://omgdexnursey.tumblr.com/)


End file.
